THE Tannadice stopper netted a stunning free-kick in the 4-3 defeat and revealed the only way he can get over the result is by helping United beat Aberdeen.

BARRY DOUGLAS scored the last SPL goal of 2012 but it won’t hold any special place in his memory bank.

The Dundee United defender trooped off the Tannadice pitch minutes after his sensational free-kick with a sick feeling in his stomach and the only thing that will make it go away is a victory at Pittodrie this afternoon.

Douglas was distraught at the manner of United’s 4-3 defeat to St Mirren that left his team stranded in eighth place and with only two home league wins all season.

A trip up the road to Aberdeen can help restore a feelgood factor – but only if Peter Houston’s team can cut out the defensive howlers that have undermined all their good work at the other end of the pitch.

Douglas, below, said: “My goal on Sunday counts for nothing as we lost. We’ve scored another three goals and that’s 15 in the last five games. For a team who can score that amount we should have more points on the board.

“We just need to try to cut out the errors and be a bit more defensive and eradicate giving away goals to get some more wins.”

Douglas is part of the defence that is leaking badly but he believes every department of the team has to take responsibility for a goals against column that shows 32 have been conceded in the SPL – 20 of them at home.

He added: “It’s not just the defenders who are to blame. It’s a team effort which starts from the front.

“So we have to get back to the drawing board and try to stop it. I think everyone hits a blip but if we weren’t scoring goals and creating chances and getting beat all the time I would be panicking.

“However, the fact we’re scoring so many goals is promising from an attacking point of view so we need to tighten things up at the other end.”

The 23-year-old also admits his team could be doing with a rub of the green today.

Douglas said: “Every wee mistake is leading to a goal and we could do with our luck changing a little bit.

“Hopefully that changes in the New Year and we start getting a break of the ball.

“If you look at two goals in our last two games – one ricocheted off Brian McLean against St Johnstone for the own goal and for the fourth goal against St Mirren it just went past Keith Watson. On another day, these could have gone anywhere.

“We need to get back to basics – we’re working hard on the training ground – and stop conceding stupid goals. But we’re not anxious yet or panicking and once we get a couple of wins I’m sure we’ll shoot up the league.”

To do that today, United will have to stop Aberdeen’s Niall McGinn adding to his 14 goals this term – three of them against Dundee at the weekend. Douglas said: “Niall is in good form scoring goals. He’s a threat. We’ll have to watch him carefully and try to cut out his goals.

“But I think it’s down to ourselves and what we do on the day. W e have good players like Stuart Armstrong who is in a rich vein of form right now. So if we can get a player like him playing we’ll have a good chance.”